[imagesource: Timothy Schenck]

New York has a lot to offer, and now a new feature has been added to the Hudson River – Little Island park.

The park and performance venue was designed by Brit Thomas Heatherwick, and built alongside the global engineering firm Arup and New York-based landscape architects MNLA.

Little Island, which isn’t that little at 2,4-acres, is bastioned by 132 mushroom-shaped concrete columns and took a whole eight years to finally finish, reports Dezeen.

Now, Little Island is open to the public and can be accessed with free timed tickets.

The design of the island has bio-mimicry in mind, inspired by the old Pier 54 piles that still poke out of the water and provide a breeding ground for fish:

“Typically, piers are composed of structural piles that go down into the river bed with slabs that cover them to make a surface,” said Heatherwick.

“However, we were inspired by these piles and the civil engineering required to build structures that are able to withstand extreme river conditions.”

The mushroom-shaped concrete piles were precast using 39 different formwork shapes, which make them strong and sturdy, enough to hold up to 350 tons:

Image: Timothy Schenck

At the top of the piles are prefabricated “petals” that form six-metre-wide containers filled with soil, supporting the life of 400 species of plants and 100 types of tree.

These were strategically placed around the island to protect people from the strong winds blowing off the river.

The “petals’ also hold lawns for visitors to sunbathe on, as well as 540 metres of pathways that loop past viewpoints and three performance spaces.

The amphitheatre is the largest of those spaces, with wooden benches and a capacity for 700 audience members:

Image: Timothy Schenck

The central space can hold around 3 500 people and then there’s also a more intimate spoken-word stage for 200 people.

The park is located in Chelsea on Manhattan’s West Side and has two bridges that connect it to the mainland:

Instead of building extra structures in the park and disrupting the view, all of the backstage facilities for the performance venues are built under the pier and accessed via one of the bridges:

Image: Timothy Schenck

The park was funded by donations from the foundation headed up by Barry Diller, IAC and Expedia chairman, and fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg.

Take a virtual tour around the island park with this video:

[source:dezeen]